TOTO WOLFF has reaffirmed his interest in signing up Lewis Hamilton to a new long-term deal.
Both Hamilton and Wolff have been explicitly clear that they intend to sign new contracts but as yet there is no deal in place for the 38-year-old driver beyond this season.
Despite reported interest from rival teams like Ferrari in a £40million deal, Wolff has told Austrian media that he’s not worried about losing the seven-time world champion.
He said: “These rumours come up every two years when we have to sign a new contract.
“But none of this is true. We discuss normally, without any time pressure.
“It’s just uncomfortable that two friends, two blood brothers who have been through thick and thin for ten years, suddenly have to discuss money.
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“I’m firmly convinced that we’ll find each other, there’s not a millimetre of doubt for me.
“I can’t imagine anything else. If we give Lewis a competitive car, he will win for a long time. Look at Tom Brady and what he was still capable of in his 40s.”
Hamilton too has outlined his intention to remain with the Silver Arrows.
At the Azerbaijan GP, he did admit: “I’d be lying if I said I’d never thought about ending my career anywhere else.”
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Meanwhile, ahead of this weekend’s Monaco GP, former F1 world champion Damon Hill says it is up to Red Bull’s rivals to offer more of a fight.
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team boss, asked “where are the others?” during a TV interview after Max Verstappen’s win in Miami with reference to Mercedes and Ferrari.
And Hill says he’s right to question where the challenge is coming from after Red Bull won the opening five races this season.
Hill said: “Christian is someone who likes to rub salt in the wounds – he doesn’t tend to say things without knowing the impact of his words.
“But saying that everyone else has underperformed, he’s right.
“Red Bull, that team has produced an absolute peach of a car. They’ve exploited whatever loopholes there are in the regulations so that it’s a legal car that is beautifully put together.
“I was watching Max in Miami drive that thing and thinking, ‘That guy can do anything with that car’.
“It’s so beautifully balanced. But everyone else has underperformed, he’s right.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
